Experts fear rise in Covid-19 infection

The government's decision to allow the movement of public transport including bus and train on a limited scale has caused concern among transport experts and users over further spread of Covid-19.
They said the decision to allow the movement of public transport would be 'disastrous' and 'suicidal' as the number of coronavirus patients was on the rise in the country and no such guidelines were given or measures taken to make public transport safe.
Experts argued that addressing health issues in public transport particularly in road transport would be tough.
Besides, they fear further deterioration in the Covid-19 pandemic as it would not be possible to control passengers with a limited number of transports.
"When peak-hour passengers' crowd during any normal day cannot be checked, how could such rush be controlled with a limited number of transports," said Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity Secretary General Mozammel Hoque.
BUET Professor M Shamsul Hoque, however, said a groundwork was necessary before allowing public transport on the streets.
"Today or tomorrow public transport need to be allowed. But various elements and issues are needed to be addressed to ensure safety of passengers and contain the spread of virus,' he said focusing that proximity of spreading is much higher in transport than any other sources due to its nature of mobility.
Talking with bus owners and workers, the FE correspondent found that none had any preparation. Even they did not hold discussion during the lockdown to resume transport service considering health issues related to check the spread of coronavirus infection.
Khandaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said they had no preparation to resume transport service. "Whatever the guidelines the government would give, we will follow them."
Official sources said Bangladesh Road Transport Authority will sit with the transport owners and workers on Friday, a day before resumption of public transport, to discuss the issues and guidelines to be necessary during bus operation.
Bangladesh Railway (BR), however, has done some groundwork but it is yet to take decision on how trains be operated on limited scale.
"We have to consider many other issues to run trains on limited scale," said an official preferring not to be named. He said the authority has decided not to run any local trains.
But keeping sanitizers, hand wash facilities, maintaining hygiene in seats in public transport are still not well designed.
Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority in the first week of May sent letters to transport related associations and unions and the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges on necessary preparations needed to be taken for the transport sector.
In the letters, the DTCA executive director emphasized the importance of imparting training to the drivers and helpers about health issues including sanitization, cleaning, hand washing so that transports can be operated in safer mode.
It also requested the transport leaders to form a committee in this regard.
But neither the ministry nor the associations and unions have taken any measures in this regard.
Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury of Jatri Kalyan Samity urged the government to enforce the health-related rules first, then allow transport operation on limited scale.
"It is true that both transport owners and workers are going through tough times due to lockdown for more than two months. But there are also extortionists whose earnings also come from this sector. So, it would be hard to force the people involved in the transport sector into abiding by health-related rules," he told the FE over phone.
Dr Shamsul Hoque stressed the need for forming a tripartite committee with representatives from police, owners, workers and passengers which would help address a wider range of issues as well as help them play a role of watchdog.
According to him, the issues needed to be addressed include preparing set of guidelines for following by both owners and workers, procedural matters like sanitization, sitting arrangements and cost bearing issues for keeping half of the seats idle and maintaining health issues.
He said almost all coronavirus-hit countries have followed all these issues first to ensure public health and then allowed movement of transport.

[email protected]